FEELING SAFE AND SECURE: ANALYSIS OF THE CHICO POLICE DEPARTMENT’S SCHOOL RESOURCE PROGRAM THROUGH THE TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCE

Includes Supplementary MaterialThis thesis examines perceptions of the Chico Police Department’s (CPD) School Resource Officer (SRO) Program through the lens of middle school and high school teachers in the rural Chico Unified School District (CUSD) and explores the program’s role in preparing teachers to respond to school violence and teachers’ perceptions of school violence and the program’s efficacy in reducing violence on campus. This thesis presents a qualitative, thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with teachers at CUSD high schools and middle schools. The interviews revealed that teachers’ perceptions of violence on campus ebb and flow with the national narrative and affect their feelings of physical and psychological safety and, sometimes, the view that violence on campus is inevitable. Thus, the presence of an SRO improves their perspective of safety, provides opportunities to mentor students, and serves as a conduit for information sharing. Even though teachers’ overall perception of SROs is positive, teachers cited a lack of visibility, deficient communication, incompetence, laziness, and a lack of transparency as concerns. These themes from the teachers’ interviews led to the following recommendations for the CPD: include teachers in safety plans, clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of SROs, establish a consistent SRO presence on campus, conduct safety tabletop exercises, and develop a mentoring program for students.Civilian, Chico Police DepartmentApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Multiband processing of multimode light: combining 3D photonic lanterns with waveguide Bragg gratings

The first demonstration of narrowband spectral filtering of multimode light on a 3D integrated photonic chip using photonic lanterns and waveguide Bragg gratings is reported. The photonic lanterns with multi-notch waveguide Bragg gratings were fabricated using the femtosecond direct-write technique in boro-aluminosilicate glass (Corning, Eagle 2000). Transmission dips of up to 5 dB were measured in both photonic lanterns and reference single-mode waveguides with 10.4-mm-long gratings. The result demonstrates efficient and symmetrical performance of each of the gratings in the photonic lantern. Such devices will be beneficial to space-division multiplexed communication systems as well as for units for astronomical instrumentation for suppression of the atmospheric telluric emission from OH lines.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Laser & Photonics Review

Giant pop-ins and amorphization in germanium during indentation

Sudden excursions of unusually large magnitude (>1 μm), “giant pop-ins,” have been observed in the force-displacement curve for high load indentation of crystalline germanium(Ge). A range of techniques including Raman microspectroscopy, focused ion-beam cross sectioning, and transmission electron microscopy, are applied to study this phenomenon. Amorphous material is observed in residual indents following the giant pop-in. The giant pop-in is shown to be a material removal event, triggered by the development of shallow lateral cracks adjacent to the indent. Enhanced depth recovery, or “elbowing,” observed in the force-displacement curve following the giant pop-in is explained in terms of a compliant response of plates of material around the indent detached by lateral cracking. The possible causes of amorphization are discussed, and the implications in light of earlier indentation studies of Ge are considered

Improving the retention rate for residential treatment of substance abuse by sequential intervention for social anxiety

BACKGROUND Residential drug rehabilitation is often seen as a treatment of last resort for people with severe substance abuse issues. These clients present with more severe symptoms, and frequent psychiatric comorbidities relative to outpatients. Given the complex nature of this client group, a high proportion of clients seeking treatment often do not enter treatment, and of those who do, many exit prematurely. Given the highly social nature of residential drug rehabilitation services, it has been argued that social anxieties might decrease the likelihood of an individual entering treatment, or increase the likelihood of them prematurely exiting treatment. The current paper reports on the protocol of a Randomised Control Trial which examined whether treatment of social anxiety prior to entry to treatment improves entry rates and retention in residential drug rehabilitation. METHOD/DESIGN A Randomised Control Trial comparing a social skills treatment with a treatment as usual control group was employed. The social skills training program was based on the principles of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and was adapted from Ron Rapee's social skills training program. A permutated block randomisation procedure was utilised. Participants are followed up at the completion of the program (or baseline plus six weeks for controls) and at three months following entry into residential rehabilitation (or six months post-baseline for participants who do not enter treatment). DISCUSSION The current study could potentially have implications for addressing social anxiety within residential drug treatment services in order to improve entry and retention in treatment. The results might suggest that the use of additional screening tools in intake assessments, a focus on coping with social anxieties in support groups for clients waiting to enter treatment, and greater awareness of social anxiety issues is warranted. AUSTRALIAN NEW ZEALAND CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN) registration number: ACTRN12611000579998.This research was supported under Australian Research Council's Linkage Projects funding scheme (project number: LP0990162)